No, they have to inflate these prices because the government and insurance companies (not that these gunshot victims have insurance) will pay them an extremely small percentage of what they bill. This has nothing to do with the free market. The US hasn’t had a free market in health insurance or care since at least 1965. That is why costs have skyrocketed and free-loaders can force the rest of us to pay their bills.
These are inner city blacks shooting each other up and mostly suburban taxpayers footing the bill. Can we call it reparations?
That sounds like just another excuse.